David S. Moon
@daimoon.bsky.social
Senior Lecturer in Politics, teaching and writing about politics, ideology and pro-wrestling, with a bit of Wales 🏴 when I can. https://www.davidsmoon.co.uk
Pinned
David S. Moon
@daimoon.bsky.social
· Sep 15
New article out in @bjpir.bsky.social that investigates the #WWE + Welsh Government 🏴 deal to host “Clash at the Castle 2002” in Cardiff.
Mixing nation branding & pro-wrestling literature it analyses how WWE fit the Cymru Wales Brand into its broadcasts. (1/?)
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Mixing nation branding & pro-wrestling literature it analyses how WWE fit the Cymru Wales Brand into its broadcasts. (1/?)
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
The Maccabi Tel Aviv event embodies what I call ‘Kayfabe politics’. Key to Kayfabe is not simply those performing in the ring pretending something false is real (here politicians) but how spectators (media +) also ‘keep Kayfabe’, playing along as fans-who-believe to sustain the spectacle they enjoy.
Hi guys, I've decided as everyone else has to start a substack. Here's my first article, on how the Maccabi Tel Aviv fan furore lays bare the pretence at the heart of British politics. Feel free to subscribe, I'm going to try write at least 2 articles a month.
open.substack.com/pub/tomusher...
open.substack.com/pub/tomusher...
Fated to pretend
What the Maccabi Tel Aviv furore shows us all about pretending
open.substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 9:35 PM
The Maccabi Tel Aviv event embodies what I call ‘Kayfabe politics’. Key to Kayfabe is not simply those performing in the ring pretending something false is real (here politicians) but how spectators (media +) also ‘keep Kayfabe’, playing along as fans-who-believe to sustain the spectacle they enjoy.
I missed this article at the time - further use of Kayfabe as the lens to understand Trump-world.
Hat-tip @pabloredux.bsky.social !
Hat-tip @pabloredux.bsky.social !
A Trumped-Up Spectacle: James Chandler considers what Roland Barthes’s famous essay about wrestling can tell us about reality and shared illusion in Donald Trump’s Washington. lareviewofbooks.org/article/a-tr...
A Trumped-Up Spectacle | Los Angeles Review of Books
James Chandler considers what Roland Barthes’s famous essay about wrestling can tell us about reality and shared illusion in Donald Trump’s Washington.
lareviewofbooks.org
November 10, 2025 at 9:29 PM
I missed this article at the time - further use of Kayfabe as the lens to understand Trump-world.
Hat-tip @pabloredux.bsky.social !
Hat-tip @pabloredux.bsky.social !
2017: Trump tweeted out the video off him ‘clotheslining’ Vince McMahon - with the CNN logo replacing his head. One of those key “everything is becoming wrestling” media report moments.
2025: Newsom is putting out videos of him giving Trump the ‘pedigree’. 🇺🇸 🤷🏻
www.wrestlezone.com/news/1589184...
2025: Newsom is putting out videos of him giving Trump the ‘pedigree’. 🇺🇸 🤷🏻
www.wrestlezone.com/news/1589184...
November 7, 2025 at 2:42 PM
2017: Trump tweeted out the video off him ‘clotheslining’ Vince McMahon - with the CNN logo replacing his head. One of those key “everything is becoming wrestling” media report moments.
2025: Newsom is putting out videos of him giving Trump the ‘pedigree’. 🇺🇸 🤷🏻
www.wrestlezone.com/news/1589184...
2025: Newsom is putting out videos of him giving Trump the ‘pedigree’. 🇺🇸 🤷🏻
www.wrestlezone.com/news/1589184...
On Palantir
April: Ambassador Peter Mandelson arranged for Keir Starmer to have an “informal visit” (unminuted) to Palantir, a client of his lobbying firm Global Counsel
11 Sept: UK Gov announced a strategic partnership with Palantir
18 Sept: Mandelson sacked 🤷🏻
goodlawproject.org/mandelsons-e...
April: Ambassador Peter Mandelson arranged for Keir Starmer to have an “informal visit” (unminuted) to Palantir, a client of his lobbying firm Global Counsel
11 Sept: UK Gov announced a strategic partnership with Palantir
18 Sept: Mandelson sacked 🤷🏻
goodlawproject.org/mandelsons-e...
November 7, 2025 at 1:39 PM
On Palantir
April: Ambassador Peter Mandelson arranged for Keir Starmer to have an “informal visit” (unminuted) to Palantir, a client of his lobbying firm Global Counsel
11 Sept: UK Gov announced a strategic partnership with Palantir
18 Sept: Mandelson sacked 🤷🏻
goodlawproject.org/mandelsons-e...
April: Ambassador Peter Mandelson arranged for Keir Starmer to have an “informal visit” (unminuted) to Palantir, a client of his lobbying firm Global Counsel
11 Sept: UK Gov announced a strategic partnership with Palantir
18 Sept: Mandelson sacked 🤷🏻
goodlawproject.org/mandelsons-e...
I am reminded of the fact that as LOTO Keir Starmer whipped Labour MPs to abstain on the Covert Human Intelligence Sources Act 2021, which allows undercover state actors to commit crimes when covertly infiltrating organisations.
Undercover police officer fabricated gun plot by animal rights activists, his managers tell inquiry
Undercover police officer fabricated gun plot by animal rights activists, his managers tell inquiry
Spycops inquiry has heard James Thomson lied to superiors and deceived two women into relationships
Managers of an undercover police officer believed that he had concocted a plot in which animal rights activists purportedly sought to obtain a gun to inflict a revenge attack on a political opponent, the spycops public inquiry has heard.
The officer, James Thomson, claimed he had uncovered the plot while he infiltrated animal rights groups. But his managers later came to doubt whether it was genuine, one of them appearing to call it “bollocks”. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 7, 2025 at 1:14 PM
I am reminded of the fact that as LOTO Keir Starmer whipped Labour MPs to abstain on the Covert Human Intelligence Sources Act 2021, which allows undercover state actors to commit crimes when covertly infiltrating organisations.
Triple H is chatting about Trump again:
“Donald Trump was very good in our world of WWE because he was okay to be himself. […] But he’s charismatic. He’s larger than life. He’s not afraid to say what’s in front of him, right or wrong. The Rock is the same way.”
www.sescoops.com/news/wwe/tri...
“Donald Trump was very good in our world of WWE because he was okay to be himself. […] But he’s charismatic. He’s larger than life. He’s not afraid to say what’s in front of him, right or wrong. The Rock is the same way.”
www.sescoops.com/news/wwe/tri...
Triple H Reveals Similarities Between Donald Trump And The Rock
Triple H has explained how the similarities with the Rock helped Donald Trump excel in his political career and become US president
www.sescoops.com
November 5, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Triple H is chatting about Trump again:
“Donald Trump was very good in our world of WWE because he was okay to be himself. […] But he’s charismatic. He’s larger than life. He’s not afraid to say what’s in front of him, right or wrong. The Rock is the same way.”
www.sescoops.com/news/wwe/tri...
“Donald Trump was very good in our world of WWE because he was okay to be himself. […] But he’s charismatic. He’s larger than life. He’s not afraid to say what’s in front of him, right or wrong. The Rock is the same way.”
www.sescoops.com/news/wwe/tri...
Reposted by David S. Moon
This is the slide I used in my “Westminster Bubble” lecture this year, where the question for class discussion was - “why did the ‘bubble’ go along with Mandelson’s appointment … until suddenly they didn’t?”
November 3, 2025 at 6:39 PM
This is the slide I used in my “Westminster Bubble” lecture this year, where the question for class discussion was - “why did the ‘bubble’ go along with Mandelson’s appointment … until suddenly they didn’t?”
So Starmer *knew* Mandelson stayed at Epstein’s after he was jailed for sex crimes - but *didn’t* know about the emails where Mandelson treated him as innocent.
So the logic below was right: “it was fine if he believed Epstein was guilty but not if innocent” FFS
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
So the logic below was right: “it was fine if he believed Epstein was guilty but not if innocent” FFS
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
November 3, 2025 at 6:33 PM
So Starmer *knew* Mandelson stayed at Epstein’s after he was jailed for sex crimes - but *didn’t* know about the emails where Mandelson treated him as innocent.
So the logic below was right: “it was fine if he believed Epstein was guilty but not if innocent” FFS
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
So the logic below was right: “it was fine if he believed Epstein was guilty but not if innocent” FFS
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
If you read the headline only you’d probably assume the resignation was related to an investigation into the abuse (rape) of a detainee - but no, it is the *leaking* of the abuse, not the abuse itself, that is being investigated as a crime. Ofc.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Israeli military's top lawyer resigns over leak of video allegedly showing abuse of Palestinian detainee
Maj Gen Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi was facing an investigation into how the video at a detention facility holding detainees from Gaza was leaked last year.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 3, 2025 at 10:56 AM
If you read the headline only you’d probably assume the resignation was related to an investigation into the abuse (rape) of a detainee - but no, it is the *leaking* of the abuse, not the abuse itself, that is being investigated as a crime. Ofc.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
After posting this short thread on Kincora I thought, “what’s up with Colin Wallace?”
And it turns out I missed the recent news that the MoD lost or destroyed his personal files in 2023 - the year Wallace began legal proceedings against them.
Ah, Brit Pol!
www.declassifieduk.org/military-los...
And it turns out I missed the recent news that the MoD lost or destroyed his personal files in 2023 - the year Wallace began legal proceedings against them.
Ah, Brit Pol!
www.declassifieduk.org/military-los...
October 31, 2025 at 6:01 PM
After posting this short thread on Kincora I thought, “what’s up with Colin Wallace?”
And it turns out I missed the recent news that the MoD lost or destroyed his personal files in 2023 - the year Wallace began legal proceedings against them.
Ah, Brit Pol!
www.declassifieduk.org/military-los...
And it turns out I missed the recent news that the MoD lost or destroyed his personal files in 2023 - the year Wallace began legal proceedings against them.
Ah, Brit Pol!
www.declassifieduk.org/military-los...
Good point to raise with Andrew Lownie who the BBC is interviewing now. His Andrew biography was key, alongside Virginia Giuffre’s book, in costing Andrew his title. His 2019 Mountbatten biography detailed evidence of a link to Kincora abuse & he discussed more in Chris Moore’s 2025 book on Kincora.
Not sure Andrew Windsor adopting the Mountbatten name is such a good idea
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-nort...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-nort...
Man who alleges Mountbatten abuse launches legal challenge
Arthur Smyth is suing five state institutions including the Department of Health and the PSNI.
www.bbc.co.uk
October 30, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Good point to raise with Andrew Lownie who the BBC is interviewing now. His Andrew biography was key, alongside Virginia Giuffre’s book, in costing Andrew his title. His 2019 Mountbatten biography detailed evidence of a link to Kincora abuse & he discussed more in Chris Moore’s 2025 book on Kincora.
“This sense of kayfabe I think goes right throughout the Irish system, state and economy.”
New article using the pro-wrestling concept of #Kayfabe as a tool for political analysis.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
New article using the pro-wrestling concept of #Kayfabe as a tool for political analysis.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
journals.sagepub.com
October 28, 2025 at 5:03 PM
“This sense of kayfabe I think goes right throughout the Irish system, state and economy.”
New article using the pro-wrestling concept of #Kayfabe as a tool for political analysis.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
New article using the pro-wrestling concept of #Kayfabe as a tool for political analysis.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Hashtag not all sensibles ofc. But I’ll be interested to see if the revelations now published will spark any wider attention or reflection among scholars on what it means for how we study and interpret “politics” - or if it will be overlooked or dismissed. Cf. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
October 27, 2025 at 12:32 PM
Hashtag not all sensibles ofc. But I’ll be interested to see if the revelations now published will spark any wider attention or reflection among scholars on what it means for how we study and interpret “politics” - or if it will be overlooked or dismissed. Cf. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
One legacy of 2017-2019 in UK politics was random social media accounts like @/TontysArse97 showing a clearer understanding of the internal dynamics within the Labour Party than the ‘sensible’ professionals paid to explain politics who instead tweeted 🦄 at them www.declassifieduk.org/how-keir-sta...
How Keir Starmer conned the British electorate
Book review: ‘The Fraud’ offers the most damning portrayal yet of the Starmer project.
www.declassifieduk.org
October 27, 2025 at 12:26 PM
One legacy of 2017-2019 in UK politics was random social media accounts like @/TontysArse97 showing a clearer understanding of the internal dynamics within the Labour Party than the ‘sensible’ professionals paid to explain politics who instead tweeted 🦄 at them www.declassifieduk.org/how-keir-sta...
There’s nascent talk of Green/Your Party electoral pacts to avoid splitting the Left vote. Caerphilly shows Plaid need to be part of any discussions. The Greens backed indie Wales in 2024, ZP reiterated in 2024 & Greens have a history of electoral pacts w. Plaid. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Co-oper....
Co-operation between the Green Party and Plaid Cymru - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
October 24, 2025 at 10:51 AM
There’s nascent talk of Green/Your Party electoral pacts to avoid splitting the Left vote. Caerphilly shows Plaid need to be part of any discussions. The Greens backed indie Wales in 2024, ZP reiterated in 2024 & Greens have a history of electoral pacts w. Plaid. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Co-oper....
Reposted by David S. Moon
That scene of the Welsh BBC correspondent being the only person interviewing Caerphilly's new Plaid AM while the rest of the media interviewed Reform's loser in the background was far too on the nose.
October 24, 2025 at 1:34 AM
That scene of the Welsh BBC correspondent being the only person interviewing Caerphilly's new Plaid AM while the rest of the media interviewed Reform's loser in the background was far too on the nose.
“Dissolved” maybe too strong here - outsiders can struggle to realise the actual depth of loathing that exists within elements of Welsh Lab for “nationalism”. But my sense is that feeling is more concentrated in older members + Welsh Lab own tilt to soft-nationalist rhetoric did much to aid this.
Part of the story from Caerphilly is a wider change in Welsh political culture: old divides like language & indie policy, which split the centre-left into tribal silos, have dissolved. The “never-Plaid” mentality within Welsh Lab has shrivelled - meaning its disillusioned voters have an alternative.
October 24, 2025 at 8:36 AM
“Dissolved” maybe too strong here - outsiders can struggle to realise the actual depth of loathing that exists within elements of Welsh Lab for “nationalism”. But my sense is that feeling is more concentrated in older members + Welsh Lab own tilt to soft-nationalist rhetoric did much to aid this.
Part of the story from Caerphilly is a wider change in Welsh political culture: old divides like language & indie policy, which split the centre-left into tribal silos, have dissolved. The “never-Plaid” mentality within Welsh Lab has shrivelled - meaning its disillusioned voters have an alternative.
October 24, 2025 at 8:25 AM
Part of the story from Caerphilly is a wider change in Welsh political culture: old divides like language & indie policy, which split the centre-left into tribal silos, have dissolved. The “never-Plaid” mentality within Welsh Lab has shrivelled - meaning its disillusioned voters have an alternative.
Reposted by David S. Moon
My latest newsletter with all the analysis from a historic Caerphilly byelection
willhaywardwales.substack.com/p/plaid-smas...
willhaywardwales.substack.com/p/plaid-smas...
Plaid smash Reform to win in Caerphilly
These are the key takeaways from a massive night in Welsh politics
willhaywardwales.substack.com
October 24, 2025 at 4:29 AM
My latest newsletter with all the analysis from a historic Caerphilly byelection
willhaywardwales.substack.com/p/plaid-smas...
willhaywardwales.substack.com/p/plaid-smas...
Keir Starmer’s position is essentially summed up in this incredible exchange with his spokesperson:
“You seem to be saying it’s fine to stay in a convicted paedophile’s property if you think they are guilty, but not if you think they are innocent?”
“You seem to be saying it’s fine to stay in a convicted paedophile’s property if you think they are guilty, but not if you think they are innocent?”
October 20, 2025 at 10:54 AM
Keir Starmer’s position is essentially summed up in this incredible exchange with his spokesperson:
“You seem to be saying it’s fine to stay in a convicted paedophile’s property if you think they are guilty, but not if you think they are innocent?”
“You seem to be saying it’s fine to stay in a convicted paedophile’s property if you think they are guilty, but not if you think they are innocent?”
That’s 3k more than the last Conservative Party membership figures in July.
The Greens now have the third highest party membership behind Labour and Reform.
Question then is what this means for ‘Your Party’ once it finalises its internal debates and can focus fully on fishing in similar waters.
The Greens now have the third highest party membership behind Labour and Reform.
Question then is what this means for ‘Your Party’ once it finalises its internal debates and can focus fully on fishing in similar waters.
Sorry you've been a victim of fake news.
I said this morning to @vicderbyshire.bsky.social that the Green Party had passed 123,000 members.
A couple of hours later it's out of date. @greenparty.org.uk have 126,000! 🎉🚀
Join.greenparty.org.uk
I said this morning to @vicderbyshire.bsky.social that the Green Party had passed 123,000 members.
A couple of hours later it's out of date. @greenparty.org.uk have 126,000! 🎉🚀
Join.greenparty.org.uk
Join the Green Party
Join the Green Party from just £6 a year. Become a member today - join the only party standing up for people and planet.
Join.greenparty.org.uk
October 19, 2025 at 11:57 AM
That’s 3k more than the last Conservative Party membership figures in July.
The Greens now have the third highest party membership behind Labour and Reform.
Question then is what this means for ‘Your Party’ once it finalises its internal debates and can focus fully on fishing in similar waters.
The Greens now have the third highest party membership behind Labour and Reform.
Question then is what this means for ‘Your Party’ once it finalises its internal debates and can focus fully on fishing in similar waters.
The new Oversight Committee transcript of Alexander Acosta’s testimony is notable in that it seems to finally ID the source behind the claim Acosta told the Trump transition team he was “told Epstein belonged to intelligence and to leave it alone” as Steve Bannon
oversight.house.gov/release/over...
oversight.house.gov/release/over...
October 19, 2025 at 11:01 AM
The new Oversight Committee transcript of Alexander Acosta’s testimony is notable in that it seems to finally ID the source behind the claim Acosta told the Trump transition team he was “told Epstein belonged to intelligence and to leave it alone” as Steve Bannon
oversight.house.gov/release/over...
oversight.house.gov/release/over...
#WWE bragging “that the White House itself took their own storyline inspiration from WWE talent” - specifically Paul Heyman’s defence of Brock Lesnar’s return - after “a White House press office official texted a major WWE official” during Epstein Files scandal.
www.cagesideseats.com/rumor-round-...
www.cagesideseats.com/rumor-round-...
Rumor Roundup: White House texts WWE about Epstein, Cena title plan, Lesnar return, more!
The latest rumors, including WWE brags about inspiring Trump’s response to Epstein Files scandal, Cena title plans for final match, Lesnar return disgust, more!
www.cagesideseats.com
October 18, 2025 at 6:32 AM
#WWE bragging “that the White House itself took their own storyline inspiration from WWE talent” - specifically Paul Heyman’s defence of Brock Lesnar’s return - after “a White House press office official texted a major WWE official” during Epstein Files scandal.
www.cagesideseats.com/rumor-round-...
www.cagesideseats.com/rumor-round-...
Wales’s role in UK political discourse is not to exist as a political entity in itself, but rather as a source of insight into England’s future.
This election will therefore frame the Westminster narrative of Reform’s inevitability (or not). A Plaid win would be hard to digest for ‘the bubble’.
This election will therefore frame the Westminster narrative of Reform’s inevitability (or not). A Plaid win would be hard to digest for ‘the bubble’.
Massive Caerphilly by-election poll!
Survation/Camlas poll makes it a two horse race:
Reform 41.61%
PC 38.29%
Lab 12.37%
Con 3.65%
LD 1.35%
Green 2.72%
Labour previously had an 18 point majority here and 46% of the vote.
The Tory vote has collapsed. 70% of their voters now going to Reform.
Survation/Camlas poll makes it a two horse race:
Reform 41.61%
PC 38.29%
Lab 12.37%
Con 3.65%
LD 1.35%
Green 2.72%
Labour previously had an 18 point majority here and 46% of the vote.
The Tory vote has collapsed. 70% of their voters now going to Reform.
October 16, 2025 at 8:37 AM
Wales’s role in UK political discourse is not to exist as a political entity in itself, but rather as a source of insight into England’s future.
This election will therefore frame the Westminster narrative of Reform’s inevitability (or not). A Plaid win would be hard to digest for ‘the bubble’.
This election will therefore frame the Westminster narrative of Reform’s inevitability (or not). A Plaid win would be hard to digest for ‘the bubble’.
Its classic Brit Pol media style that when Priti Patel is invited onto TV to label Palestinian solidarity marches as “hateful” nobody mentions that she was forced to resign from government for holding secret unauthorised meetings with Israel government officials. 🤷🏻 www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-poli...
Priti Patel quits cabinet over Israel meetings row - BBC News
Priti Patel resigns as UK international development secretary after the row about meeting Israeli politicians.
www.bbc.co.uk
October 12, 2025 at 11:39 AM
Its classic Brit Pol media style that when Priti Patel is invited onto TV to label Palestinian solidarity marches as “hateful” nobody mentions that she was forced to resign from government for holding secret unauthorised meetings with Israel government officials. 🤷🏻 www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-poli...